Nitrogen is an important nutrient for supporting development and growth of plant life. Ammonia and urea are two common nitrogen containing compounds that are widely used in the fertilizer industry, as well as being used as basic chemicals in the production of a variety of different chemical compounds. Ammonia is a precursor to many nitrogen containing compounds, including urea, and therefore is an important chemical to the fertilizer industry. Ammonia is one of the most produced compounds, with a global annual production capacity of over 195 million metric tonnes. Approximately 80% or more of global production of ammonia is utilized as agricultural fertilizer. Urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphates, nitric acid, and ammonium sulfate were the major derivatives of ammonia.
Urea (or carbamide) has the highest nitrogen content of all commonly used solid nitrogenous fertilizers. Due to the wide use of urea in fertilizers as a convenient source of nitrogen, urea production is important. Additionally, urea is an important feedstock for the manufacturing of plastics, urea-formaldehylde resins, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals, and is also important as a feed product for ruminant animals.
Ammonia can be produced from different hydrocarbon feedstocks such as natural gas, coal, and oil. Natural gas accounts for more than 95% of ammonia tonnage. Generally, industrial plants producing ammonia and ammonia based fertilizers suffer from high feedstock costs, excessive energy requirements, and high emissions. Thus, a need exists for the development of new methods for the production of hydrogen compounds, such as ammonia and urea, with reduced costs and emissions.